


it leads you to notice more and more

by elouanwrites



Series: Sankalita Gardens Herd-ship [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Brotherhood, Family Relationships - Freeform, Gen, and he’s all out of gum, flower shop, he’s here to chew gum and meddle in other people’s business, hints of past child abuse, ithorian herdship, it’s a botanical garden in space, mentioned past potential arranged marriage, no Jedi AU, no sith au, of course there’s a flower shop, retired yoda, world-building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:15:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27202327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elouanwrites/pseuds/elouanwrites
Summary: It's Maul's first day and he is Not Prepared. Fay has concerns. Feral and Savage find the library. Yoda has even more concerns.
Relationships: Feral & Darth Maul & Savage Opress
Series: Sankalita Gardens Herd-ship [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1985119
Comments: 12
Kudos: 50





	it leads you to notice more and more

* * *

Maul woke up on his first day of work in a tangle of limbs, slightly overheated and one arm almost completely numb. One of Feral’s horns was dangerously close to being shoved directly into his nose. Thrust violently into memories of childhood, he had to repress the urge to bite it so hard it almost felt like he strained something. Instead he reached up with his free hand to shove Feral’s head off his arm, grinding his face into the pillow and kicking Savage’s octopus legs off his lower body. Their twin squawks of startled outrage were like beautiful music to his older sibling ears, and he snickered as he climbed off the bed.

“Up,” he said mercilessly loud, ignoring the muffled noises of complaint as they hid their faces in the bed. “Unless you want to be trapped in here until at least lunch, _up_.”

He slid open the door to the small wardrobe he’d found last night, and grabbed a set of his new uniform. The gray tunic was soft against his fingers, but the fabric was thick and felt durable. It was probably the nicest thing he’d worn that wasn’t the showy outfits his mother dressed him in when she wanted to tempt someone into making an offer for his hand. His lip curled in disgust at the memory, hands tightening on the fabric as he exhaled through his teeth. Never again. Not for him, not for Savage, and _definitely_ not for Feral.

He was jarred from his dark thoughts when a forehead thumped against his shoulder blade, Feral’s skinny arms wrapping around him from behind.

“You’re gonna do great,” the fifteen year old mumbled against his back. “It’s just flowers, how hard can it be?” Maul winced, remembering his late night research on floral arrangements with an illicitly pilfered datapad, frantically trying to cram as much knowledge on color theory and visual balance into his brain as he possibly could so maybe he could avoid making a complete fool of himself in the first ten minutes after _lying his ass off_ on his application.

“Right,” he muttered, letting himself lean back just a bit, soaking up the warmth of his little brother’s faith in him. “Just flowers. It’ll be fine.” With a deep breath, he pulled away from the embrace and headed to the fresher to get ready. No point in putting it off and risk being late on his first day.

By the time he stepped back into the main room, still tying the gold sash around his waist, Savage had finished making a simple breakfast of reconstituted high protein porridge with a side of ration bar. With a sigh and a mental note to see about getting some actual food as soon as possible, Maul scuffed his hand across Savage’s horns in thanks and dug in.

“What are the two of you going to be doing while I’m working today,” he asked around a mouthful of tasteless ration bar. Feral paused his teenager-style voracious scarfing and gave him a hesitant smile.

“I was thinking...the library?” he offered hesitantly, darting a quick glance over at Savage for reassurance. Savage gave him a soft smile, reaching over to rub one of his horns with his thumb.

“Bookworm,” he teased, indulgently letting Feral press into his shoulder like an affectionate tooka. Maul rolled his eyes.

“Of course, I should have guessed,” he muttered. At least the library would probably be busy enough that no one would take note of one small zabrak teenager curled in a corner with a stack of books. “And you?” he asked Savage with a raised brow. His brother looked back down at his bowl to scrape up the last of the sticky porridge.

“Not sure yet,” he shrugged, his broad shoulders hunched in with uncertainty. “Probably just stick with Feral in the library.” Maul frowned but let it go. It wasn’t like he had any great advice or words of comfort to offer, he was no more familiar with their new circumstances than Savage was.

“Well just...keep your coms on you,” he said finally, his voice gruff with poorly hidden concern. “I’ll tell you where to meet me for lunch when I can.” Satisfied with their nods of acceptance, he put his bowl and spoon in the small dishwasher and went to grab his datapad and tucked it into the surprisingly spacious pocket of his tunic. He’d almost definitely need it later to even attempt convincing his new boss that he knew what he was doing. Leaning up against the door, he crossed his arms and loomed impatiently as the other two scrambled to finish getting ready to go.

He had a moment of dissonance as they pulled the last of their clothing on, struck by the sight of the familiar dathomirian male attire of plain boxy sleeveless tunics, arm wraps, and loose pants in such a wildly unfamiliar setting, but shook it off and turned to check the door’s viewport. Seeing no one, he waved it open with his fancy new access ring, still secretly delighted at the technology, and strode out into the blue hall. As early as it was there seemed to be no one up and about, fortunately, so he waved his brothers through the door and set off down the corridor.

“Send me a text com when you get to the library,” he ordered, giving the two of them a stern glance, and they quickly nodded assent. Reaching the end of the corridor he checked the map on his pad, and yes, their paths diverged already. Suppressing a grimace he instead mustered up his best attempt at an encouraging close-mouthed smile. “All right, have fun. Stay out of trouble.”

“We will,” Savage promised solemnly, his hand dropping onto Feral’s head. “I’ll keep an eye on him.”

“Hey!” Feral complained, jabbing a pointy elbow into Savage’s side. “I always behave!” Maul rolled his eyes and leaned forward, grabbing the backs of their necks to pull them in and bump foreheads, tangling horns with first one, then the other.

“ _Both_ of you, stay out of trouble,” he growled, then spun around and strode off down the hall without looking back. They’d be fine. It was a library, surely they couldn’t attract any negative attention just by sitting somewhere and reading. He, on the other hand, had to convince this…’Master Fay’ that hiring him wasn’t a terrible mistake. Gritting his teeth he headed to meet his fate, determinedly ignoring any lingering doubts and running through all the ridiculous flower names and color combinations he’d memorized in preparation for this day.

He could handle it. It was _just flowers_.

* * *

Fay hummed quietly in harmony with the quiet music being pumped into the garden’s flower shop, weaving carefully through the crowded racks of the back room with an armful of newly potted plom seedlings. She was having a lovely, peaceful morning, and after the crisis the day before it was a much-needed relief. One day young Boba would get into the kind of trouble that not even Shaak or his father would be able to get him out of, and his big brown eyes and innocent smile would fail to protect him from the consequences of his actions. Fay sighed, pushing the thought away and returning her mind to her work. She had a new employee to train, after all, it wouldn’t do to not be ready for his arrival.

As if summoned by her musings, the soft bell tone of the shop’s employee entrance rang out. Fay swiftly started putting the plom seedlings in their drainage tray.

“I’m in the store room,” she called out, wiping her hands on the rag hanging from her sash. “Come on in here and we can get started.” There was a hesitant silence, then the sound of soft-soled boots shuffled across the employee lounge up to the door of the back room. Turning to greet her new florist, Fay paused and blinked, startled at the vivid contrast of red and black on his skin and his crown of golden brown horns. She’d met many zabraks in her life, but never one with such fascinating markings. She had heard that the isolationist dathomirians were very different from their iridonian cousins, but hadn’t expected anything quite _that_ drastic. He shifted back on his feet hesitant, and she shook off her preoccupation with an apologetic smile.

“Terribly sorry, I was lost in thought,” she said cheerfully, stepping forward and offering a small bow. “You must be Maul. I am Fay, she/her, master of the flower gardens here at Sankalita. Welcome aboard.” He bowed back somewhat awkwardly, clearly unused to the gesture, and offered her a close-mouthed smile of his own.

“Thank you,” he answered quietly. His voice was low and smooth, a pleasant timbre to it, and though he was obviously very nervous he was hiding it well. She had a good feeling about him, and she had learned over the years to trust her feelings. Giving him another once-over now that she was closer, she bit back a frown at how _thin_ he was. He was clearly in at least decent health, well muscled and moving easily from what she could see, but he could definitely use a few extra rations. She made a note to remember to introduce him to Shmi at some point. No one could put meat on someone’s bones like Shmi, with her warm brown eyes, soft smiles, and durasteel edged offers of just one more helping.

“Well! I’m terribly sorry I wasn’t able to meet you yesterday,” she said, forcibly bringing her thoughts back on track. “There was an...incident, and it took far too long to deal with. Come, join me and we can chat about your duties.” She waved her arm toward the door to the small office on the other side of the room, smiling at his sharp nod of agreement and swiftly making her way over to it. Rather than taking a seat at the desk, a bittersweet sigh escaping her lips at the sight of it devoid of Bly’s clutter and knick-knacks, she settled onto the soft purple couch over to the side of the room. When Maul hesitated at the door, she gestured toward the other end of the couch, rewarding him with a pleased smile as he sat down.

“First of all I’d like to thank you for being ready to start at such short notice,” she said gratefully. “Our previous florist wasn’t set to retire for another month, but unfortunately his daughter was rather impatient to be born and decided to move up the time-table. Fortunately,” she added reassuringly, “he has offered to come in and help you get settled into your duties for a few hours each day, until you’re comfortable with the routine.” Maul’s relief that he wasn’t going to be thrown directly into the deep water was palpable, and she leaned over to pat his hand comfortingly. “Don’t be nervous, you’ll do great. I have a good feeling about you, Maul Opress.” His hand twitched under hers, almost a flinch she noticed with alarm, then slowly relaxed as she pulled back.

“Thank you,” he said gruffly, flicking his gaze away from hers to the wall behind her shoulder. “I appreciate his assistance. This place is...very different, from anything on Dathomir.” Fay settled back on her side of the couch, now even more concerned at his obvious release of tension as she got further away. She’d have to make a note to tell Bly not to make the poor boy feel cornered.

“Well,” she started, leaning back and clasping her hands together in her lap, noting the stress lines around Maul’s face start to smooth out as she did with a watchful eye. “Since he’s taking care of the baby today and can’t get free until tomorrow, how about you just follow me around while I handle things, and ask me if you have any questions? I’m not normally in the shop, I have far too many other duties around the ship to see to, but I like to keep my hand in now and then.” He nodded sharply, quick to follow as she stood, dropping his eyes to the floor and seeming to almost automatically put himself one step to the left and two behind her as she walked out of the small office.

Fay was growing more and more concerned that Maul’s eagerness to start work as soon as possible may be due to his need to leave an untenable situation, and she didn’t like that at all. She hid a frown as she started giving him a small tour of the back room and the various stations for repotting, arrangements, and gift wrapping. Maybe she should do a little research on Dathomir during lunch, and see if there was any way to make Maul more comfortable.

Or at least stop making him _un_ comfortable.

* * *

Feral bounced on the balls of his feet as they paused inside the entrance to the library to look around, his golden eyes wide with awe as he stared with his mouth open at the towering shelves. Savage hid a grin behind his hand, just enjoying the care-free delight his baby brother was radiating.

His grin faded as he realized how long it had been since Feral was able to just be...uncomplicatedly happy. Not since he was a little older than a toddler, probably, which was about when their mother properly noticed his existence and started trying to mold him into something useful to her. Maul could only do so much to protect him, and Savage even less, so they had to watch as his bright spark got dimmer and his cheerful chattering got quieter and quieter.

No matter what happened after this, Maul finally getting hired after all his stealthy applications to anything that would take them off planet was the best thing that had ever happened to the three of them. Even if everything did fall apart, they had already left Dathomir behind, and none of them were ever going back. Savage’s smile returned, though smaller, and he reached forward to give Feral a nudge between the shoulder blades.

“Go on then,” he said quietly. “Get exploring, grab some books.” He took a quick glance around, and spied a comfortable looking seating area over by what looked like a vid screen false window showing a massive field of blue and purple flowers, on a planet with a blue sky and a yellow sun. “I’ll be over there, come find me when you have an armful.”

Feral beamed, then without hesitation scuttled off into the rows of shelves, already peering at the holobook cases. Savage veered off to a desk proclaiming itself to be datapad self-checkout. Unfortunately it seemed he would require a library ident pass to check one out, so with a sigh of resignation he swung over to the shelves and grabbed a holobook at random before making his way back to the seating area. There were several sizes and styles of thick cushioned couches, suitable for a wide variety of body types and species, but Savage was most interested in a literal mound of cushions in a bowl shaped chair that would comfortably seat him and both of his brothers.

He let himself drop into the squishy pile of pillows with a sigh, which quickly turned into an embarrassingly high pitched yelp as the cushions squawked in outrage. He scrambled back up, the holobook flipping out of his hands to land on the floor with a clatter, and spun to see a...being. A small, extremely wrinkled green being with wispy white hair and long, pointed ears, who was still half buried in cushions and waving a short stick at him.

“Rude, you are!” they shouted in a strange, squeaky grumble. “Nearly crush Master Yoda, you have!” Savage flinched at the title, stumbling back a step before automatically dropping to his knees. This small being was some kind of authority figure on this ship, and he had _sat on him_. Kark.

“I...I humbly apologize, Master Yoda,” he stuttered, eyes on the floor and hands clasped. “I was not aware—that is, I...I did not know you were...I am very sorry.” He cringed, his eyes darting to the side as Feral darted around the corner and jerked to a halt, his eyes wide and frightened. He shook his head slightly, and his little brother clutched his holobooks to his chest and obediently scooted back behind the shelf. He glanced cautiously up at Master Yoda to see a small, thoughtful frown on that tiny wrinkled face as they observed the interaction, the sharp intelligence in their eyes sending a cold shiver down Savage’s spine.

“Hmmm…” rumbled the small being, extricating themself from the pile of cushions fully. “Well, no harm you have done, young one. More mindful of your surroundings, you must be.” Savage nodded sharply, letting out a soft breath of relief.

“Yes, Master Yoda,” he said quietly, bobbing his head in a small bow, then climbed to his feet. “I’ll leave you in peace, and again I’m very sorry for disturbing you.” The being’s eyes glittered strangely, and they leaned forward in the large chair.

“Nonsense!” they said imperiously, waving a clawed hand at the low couch next to their throne of pillows. “Woken me from my nap, you have. Now entertain me, you must. Only fair, it is.” Savage froze, already half turned to flee, and closed his eyes in resignation. ‘Stay out of trouble’, Maul had told them. Of course he couldn’t manage that even here. Why would his luck change now?

“Yes, of—of course, Master Yoda,” he murmured, turning back to sit gingerly on the edge of the couch. Maybe he could still turn this around, placate the small master with his good manners enough that he wouldn’t draw negative attention to his brothers. Hopefully.

* * *

Yoda watched the young zabrak perch on the furniture like they were about to leap away, as though he might launch forward and attack them at any moment. Alarms were ringing in his mind over the young being’s reactions, and he’d had a long time to develop the instincts that set off those alarms. This was a person in need of assistance, and Yoda aimed to provide it if he could. But first, to get them to look a little less like they feared being eaten.

“Know my name now, you do, and he/him, my pronouns are.” he grumbled with a put upon little huff. “But your name, I know not. Introduce yourself, you should.” They twitched, glancing around as though looking for a way out of the conversation, but it seems they did not find one.

“Ah, Savage. My name is Savage, Master Yoda.” they replied quietly, glancing back at the ground. “Also, uh. Also he/him.” Yoda hummed, tucking his gimmer stick back down the side of his chair and clasping his hands across his belly.

“Well, young Savage,” he said with a small smile, purposely lifting his ears from their concerned downward tilt. “Brings you here, what does, to this library? Student, you are? And welcome also, your young friend is, to join us, yes?” Savage twitched again, the stress lines around his mouth and eyes deepening, and he darted a glance over to where the other young one had disappeared.

“He’s...probably gone back to find more books, Master Yoda,” the young zabrak demurred. “And no sir, I’m not a student. I’m just...visiting.” Yoda let the obvious lie go, still well able to hear the nervous shuffling of Savage’s companion around the corner, but could tell that insisting was not the way to make him feel less cornered. He leaned back against his cushion pile, humming thoughtfully once more.

“In trouble, you are not, young one,” he said reassuringly. “Without fault, you were, when sat upon me you did. My own fault, it was, for too many pillows, I hoard,” he added with a small cackle. He was pleased to see a bit of the tension in Savage’s frame ease, and he felt his smile soften. There was a reason it took him so very many years to be willing to retire from teaching, and that reason was his adoration of young beings, and his delight in helping them grow into their potential. Seeing one terrified of _him_ was heartbreaking, and being able to ease it at least a bit was a balm.

“Visiting, you are, yes? To visit our fine library, what brings you?” Savage hesitated, glancing up at his expression, and relaxing a bit more at the sight of his face.

“My brother, sir,” he said quietly. “He loves to learn. I’m just here to watch out for him. He’s only fifteen, and we don’t like him to go too far alone.”

“Yes, yes, very young, that is, to be wandering.” Yoda nodded gravely. “Dangerous, the galaxy can be. And you, young one? How old, you are?”

“Eighteen standard, sir,” came the quick reply. Perhaps too quick. Yoda gave him a once-over, considering. He could be eighteen, but Yoda thought that likely he was on the younger side of seventeen at best. But there could be a number of reasons for a young being to lie about their age that were not in the least nefarious, so he wouldn’t pry.

“Hmm. Good of you, it is, to care for your brother,” he said warmly, smiling wider as more of Savage’s nervous edge smoothed away. “Now tell me, you must, how liking my home, you are.” Yoda settled in, ready for the long haul to draw the young one out of his shell and soothe his fears. After all, he was retired, as they kept telling him when he showed up at the research facilities or the university. He may as well use some of his copious free time for some good.

* * *


End file.
